BOULDER, Colo. -- Dick Tharp ended his nine-year-tenure and resigned Monday as athletic director of the University of Colorado, 7NEWS reported.

Tharp called the athletic department into the auditorium around 10:45 a.m. and announced his resignation. A source at that meeting told 7NEWS that Tharp gave a very emotional speech, broke down and cried.

The resignation came months after the school's football program was rocked by allegations that sex and alcohol were used to entice recruits and lawsuits alleging sexual assault by players or recruits.

New allegations about fund-raising problems surfaced this month. The university informed the NCAA last week that a small booster club that had not been audited under university auspices had purchased equipment for the athletics department, a violation of NCAA rules.

Tharp said his resignation was not an admission of wrongdoing.

"The record will show that I performed my duties responsibly and in the best interests of the Department of Athletics and the University of Colorado," he wrote in his resignation letter.

"Why have I not made this offer earlier? I am fully aware of the fact that various parties have called for my resignation. And yet a mere change in personnel rarely provides a remedy or solution for complex problems. This is especially true when change is conducted purely as an exercise in selecting one party to blame. I remained in my position to seek and implement solutions. In truth, I have found myself increasingly segregated, restricted in my ability to manage, and silenced. This has been the most frustrating experience of my life," he said. (Read His Entire Resignation Letter)

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CU Student Athletes React To Tharp's Resignation

The university immediately accepted Tharp's resignation with President Elizabeth Hoffman and Chancellor Richard Byyny saying, "We would like to thank Dick for his many years of service to this university and we wish him well in his future endeavors."

CU Provost Phil DiStefano said, "I wish to thank him publicly for his long service and commitment to the University of Colorado. As Athletics Director, Dick Tharp led the department in developing a strategic plan called Athletics Vision 2010 that provides a blueprint for promoting high standards in education, athletic competition, facilities, and relationships with our communities."

A grand jury, an independent commission and the university investigated the recruiting and sexual abuse allegations. No sexual assault charges were filed, but one former recruiting aide was indicted on charges of soliciting a prostitute for his own use and misusing his university cell phone.

The independent commission concluded that some players arranged sex, drugs and alcohol for recruits without the knowledge of coaches. The commission harshly criticized Tharp and other administrators, accusing them of lax oversight.

Lawsuits filed against the university by three women who said they were raped at or after a December 2001 off-campus party attended by players and recruits are pending in Denver federal court.

The university curtailed Tharp's powers after the investigations, and the athletics department, which previously was largely independent, was put under the supervision of Provost Phil DiStefano.

Tharp's support had been eroding among boosters, in part because he proposed charging football season ticket holders a surcharge in an attempt to raise badly needed revenue.

Despite the turmoil and questions about football coach Gary Barnett's own job security, the Buffaloes are 6-4 and in contention for the Big 12 title game.

"I don't think this will affect them," Barnett said Monday after Tharp's resignation.

Colorado's regular-season finale is Saturday against Nebraska, a game the Buffaloes must win to make the title game.

Outgoing CU Regent Jim Martin said Sunday that if, Tharp did resign, the decision would be "too little, too late."

"It is the 11th hour, and it is a little late to be totally blaming Dick Tharp for this," Martin said. "It's just so frustrating. This has been a public-relations nightmare from the beginning."

An investigative panel that looked at the culture of the athletic department at CU-Boulder last spring also recommended Tharp's removal.

Martin said CU regents and school administrators need to quickly "get to the bottom of these issues," in order to stop a trend he said has resulted in people picking "up the paper every day to find one more shoe dropping."

Tharp has served as CU athletic director since May 1997 after working as interim director a year. He is paid a base salary of $175,000, plus bonuses if CU receives an invitation to a bowl game.

He served as a CU's counsel from 1973-1983 before entering full-time private law practice in 1984. In 1989, he went back to working as university counsel before becoming CU's interim athletic director.